Slow and steady

March is a crazy month around here, not the least of which was Thing 2's birthday yesterday! And party. Which meant I made brownies and brought cupcakes to school. I confess I did eat a brownie's worth of batter, but all in all didn't do too badly.

I have been spotty with the gym, but work looked slow today so I did go for a 30 minute walk. Better than nothing!

I'm losing slowly, and I have less than a pound to go to reach a 15 pound total loss and to reach a new "decade", so I'm motivated to eat well today.

Also, I am wearing a size 12 pair of jeans! 15 pounds ago I was wearing size 16, although I did have one pair of size 14 pants that just fit. I quickly moved into size 14 and they are feeling a bit baggy. I went to try on the size 14 with the thought that if they just barely fit they would be "motivation" pants but they fit and are comfortable.

I think it's important not to just look at the scale for motivation. And these pants are it!

I feel like this weight loss is moving slowly (certainly by biggest loser standards!), but I'm happy with it. My goal for the next few weeks is to get a few pounds under 190. We are going on vacation at the start of April, and I plan on returning from vacation under 190. And to never see 190 again. I'm planning to be active on vacation and to stock the condo we are renting with healthy options and to enjoy some meals out. I think I can do it.

Survived the weekend

I got through the weekend enjoying myself and even losing weight. This was with eating at an Indian buffet on Friday, going out to a big charity event with a huge buffet and drinks on Saturday night, and eating homemade pizza yesterday! I really believe that if you try to do your best 80-90 percent of the time, that "relaxing", not bingeing, and enjoying yourself will not do any damage.

The Indian buffet is a place my husband and I like to go to lunch every once in a while. How do I manage to either maintain or lose weight the day after eating at this buffet? For one, I think it's healthy. There are lots of veggies in these dishes. A lot of them are in sauces, but I don't think the sauces have too much fat. The sauce just is not greasy or oily on the plate. I also don't think there is a lot of salt. Lots of spices yes, but not too much salt. Finally, as much as I love the naan bread, I just don't have it anymore. And no rice. And no dessert.

As far as the charity event, it was fun! I knew all week I wanted to relax and enjoy this event so I really was good eating all week. When faced with this huge buffet, I first filled a plate with raw veggies and fruit and a bunch of shrimp with cocktail sauce and some salad. I love shrimp! Then when I was ready to attack the buffet again, I wasn't ravenous. I had some pasta with marinara sauce, a spring roll and some green beans with almonds. I think that was it. I had a bit of my husband's dessert, which wasn't that great. I had two glasses of wine. I met Elvis and Marilyn Monroe! Had a nice time out. When I was putting on my dress, I thought to myself I wished how much I weighed less. But I was so happy that I weighed 10 pounds less than a month ago.

And as for the pizza, I had a great day of eating. Bad on exercise, though! I realize that not getting enough sleep really really affects me. We stayed up later than usual and then Thing 2 woke me up in the middle of the night. So I was tired on Sunday. While my husband took the girls for a bikeride, which would have been good exercise and just a fun thing to do, I took a nap. Because I needed it.

We made homemade pizza. While I could have made it healthier, we always make a nice thin crust, so I think that helped.

I did not go the gym today, bad me! And tomorrow is the only other day I can go. Busy work week and husband will be out of town so I can sneak out of the house early. So I'll do the best I can and hope for the best!

10 Pounds Down!

Whoo hoo! I am 10 pounds down today! This just a bit over a month after I started this journey. I am quite happy and feel good. I think the pumping up the exercise yesterday and drinking lots of water helped. And this while I am feeling slightly PMS-y. Which is why I didn't make it to the gym this morning. That and I have a crazy day today and there was a lot on my mind.

But, I have a plan! Tonights my night to take Thing 1 to swim team practice. Usually I sit in the waiting room and read or sew something if I need to (girl scout patches, etc). But tonight I will do a few loops up and down the staircases at the aquatic center. And I will drink lots of water. I think today I will add bits of frozen fruit to my water to make it "fancy". I've been having egg whites and veggies for breakfast, but today I think I need my comforting oatmeal with peanut butter.

Tomorrow is my big night out to a charity event with my husband. I had scheduled to get my hair cut and highlighted tomorrow. I was planning to save the highlights as a reward for the 10 pound weight loss, and what do you know I made it!

I ran!

eeWell, I knew I'd better get up and go to the gym today if I wanted to keep seeing results, since I didn't go yesterday. And I did! Even got there a bit early. My plan was to do 2 miles on the treadmill and then the weight machines I did two days ago. For some reason, I woke up early with almost a nervous energy. Anyhoo, I'm on the treadmill. I usually do between 4.0 and 4.7 alternating and adding a bit of incline here and there. And as I kept doing the 4.7 mile bursts, I thought, I can go faster.

So I ran! cranked it up to 5.7 mph! I hadn't planned it. I just did it for a minute or two at most, about 3 times. But it felt good! And the amazing thing is when you go faster, you go farther much more quickly. Doh! I'm guessing skinny people just know this. :) So I did 2.5 miles and still had time to do my weight machines. I actually found myself looking at couch to 5K info when I got home.

I've been wary about running as I had a knee injury in college, and I didn't think the pounding of running would be great. So I'll take it slow and listen to my body. But the lesson I learned is that I need to push myself, and I can push myself.

I think reading so many inspiring blogs of others who are on this weight loss journey has really helped. I see what other people are doing. People who weigh more than me. People who used to weigh more than me. Skinny people. All pushing themselves to be better.

Tomorrow will be treadmill only, so let's see how far I can go?

Slow down!

Another interesting article from the New York Times: To Cut Calories, Eat Slowly. "Those who reported eating quickly and eating until full had triple the risk of being overweight compared with others."

Tomorrow, as I do my skinny person impersonation, I will eat slowly. Can't today because I'm done eating for the day!

Desk job

This morning I read this NY Times article on how sitting all day is not good for you, even if you exercise regularly:

Not good news for those of us with desk jobs! The comments to the article are interesting. In the article, they reference the treadmill desk, which I linked to the other day! Now I don't think I'm ready to set up a treadmill desk, although the idea is intriguing! But this seems more feasible: 10 reasons to use an exercise ball as yourchair

I also think walking around while I'm on the phone could help (I work at home). Sometimes I'm on the phone and just need to listen in. So I can put the phone on mute, speakerphone even. Maybe do lunges or lift light weights? Unfortunately, most of the time I'm sitting at my computer, but I can get up periodically to move around!

This is also why those sensors like the Bodybugg or the Gowear Fit seem like a great idea. If I was more aware, I could probably get more movement into my day.

Food for thought. I did not go to the gym today. Not sure why, just felt like I needed a rest. But looking forward to the weight machines tomorrow again.

Goal for today: move around when I can while I work and drink more water!

Trying not to follow mom diet

Once "skinny person" habit I'm trying to adopt is to avoid the mom diet. You know when the kids don't eat everything on their plate and you finish it up so as not to waste food? Or like today when I was making Thing 2's lunch and I cut part of the crust and turkey off. Prior to starting this journey I'd just pop it in my mouth!

I think skinny people don't eat the scraps off of other peoples's plates! So now I don't either!

I remember two relevant talks at two long ago weight watchers meetings. One topic was to beware of BLTs (bites, likes and tastes). You know, licking the peanut butter spoon or cake batter or samples at the grocery store. Those can add up! So if you want a BLT, have it, but count it as part of your food intake (or points if you are doing WW).

The other WW meeting I remember was years ago, and the leader was so funny. She kind of reminded me of a (thin) Roseanne Barr. She said she liked to bake and cook for her family, but she had a bad habit of always licking the spoons and beaters. Her solution? She wore a surgical mask when she was baking and cooking. This was a reminder to her to keep the spoons away from her mouth! A bit drastic, I think, but you have to do what you have to do!

I am down to 196 now. Sunday is my official weigh in day, but I'm planning to go out for lunch with my husband today and enjoy it. I did make it to the gym. I think I did over 3 miles on the treadmill. I had to pause the machine to go blow my nose, but when I came back it lost the record of my progress. I think I overcompensated to make sure I had indeed done at least 3 miles.

Feeling good today, and looking forward to a good day.

Why can't I?

Yesterday the kids were having turkey sandwiches on some yummy rolls. I really wanted one because we got some new yummy mustard with peppers. I thought that would taste so good with turkey, but I really didn't want the big roll or any bread. So I was about to write off having the turkey when it suddenly dawned on me that I could have the turkey with the mustard without the bread! Doh! Wouldn't a skinny person do this? Just pick the best part of a dish and leave the parts they don't want or need.

I dub thee pepper mustard turkey rollups and I give thee five stars!